We work with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, TUSD’s Community Transition Program, and the University of Arizona to maintain our ecology projects.

Gardening

We currently have several garden spaces around campus. Our students and community members work the hardest in our food production and xeriscape garden. And we have recently begun restoring a pollinator garden.

Composting

We add to our compost everyday and students from TUSD’s Community Transition Program oversee how food waste is sorted in the cafeteria. After it is sorted, it is mixed into composting tumblers for decomposition. Once partially decomposed, they are moved to batches where the compost “cooks”. The resulting pathogen free soil, AKA Dragon Dirt, is used for our school gardens and sold at our Farmers’ Market.

Chicken Coop

Our chicken coop has 8 hens and 2 peahens. We feed them organic grain and laying pellets. Students collect, wash and sell their eggs.

Rain water Harvesting

We have a large 2,600-gallon cistern which collects stormwater runoff, decreasing our need for municipal water. Our cistern provides the majority of water needed for our pollinator garden, lemon tree, chicken coop and compost.

Farmers’ Market

Students lead a Farmers’ Market each Wednesday at 1:45 where they learn how to market and competitively price their items, make change for customers, record transactions and encourage families to make healthy choices.